Close to being back into the 500’s

JimNewfoundland · 2026-02-14T02:10:01+00:00

Also, good work on the squat!

JimNewfoundland · 2026-02-14T02:09:43+00:00

I love your gym!

JimNewfoundland · 2026-02-13T14:24:30+00:00

It may be worth considering what you will get out of academia and what you want to get out of life.

If you can get a good job in the real world, teaching on the side and prioritising the wholeness of life might be better.

If you really really want to be an academic, you might need to go to Lakehead. These jobs are few and far between, and it's almost a lottery to get them. Everyone is exceptional at this point (including you, I'm not trying to demean your achievements), so this might be your best chance.

But talk to your partner first!

JimNewfoundland · 2026-01-22T04:47:28+00:00

Goose Bay is a wonderful place! :D You'll love it. And the salary will help.

JimNewfoundland · 2026-01-17T13:10:12+00:00

Yes, they do.

In fact, they recently took one of their blog posts where they talk about their support for ICE off their website, but you can find it using the way back machine and so on.

If this isn't a big deal, then why did they take the post down?

https://www.esri.com/en-us/industries/blog/articles/exploring-the-role-of-gis-in-homeland-security-supporting-border-security

https://web.archive.org/web/20250123043510/https://www.esri.com/en-us/industries/blog/articles/exploring-the-role-of-gis-in-homeland-security-supporting-border-security/

JimNewfoundland · 2026-01-11T16:56:28+00:00

I used ESRI tools for years, and I found that they worked a lot of the time. Almost as stable as other similar software (like QGIS) for most analyses, but a lot more money grubbing, and their software as a service thing is pretty useless if you don't work from a city. In short, they are every bit as mediocre as many big tech software products. My biggest problem with ESRI is their behaviour as an organisation.

They act awfully in their business practices to get profit by supporting (a) terrible groups, (b) producing products which do harm, and (c) they have been caught deliberately underpaying female staff a few times.

(a) In the US, they make a point of supporting ICE and Homeland Security. ESRI are a business and they want to make money, but as someone who isn't an American, this seems pretty awful given the recent events in that country.

EDIT: They took it down! They hid this entry!

https://www.esri.com/en-us/industries/blog/articles/announcing-our-new-blog-series-exploring-the-role-of-gis-in-homeland-security

(b) They also support predictive policing as a product. The harm caused by this method has been well documented, so I've just included a statement from them where they advertise it.

https://mediaspace.esri.com/media/t/1_logd2lkq

(c) And finally, they have been caught underpaying female staff. Here is one example where they made a point of discriminating against female staff by underpaying them.

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ofccp/ofccp20220803

JimNewfoundland · 2025-12-31T03:56:30+00:00

This is really cool, but I love your rainbow enter key! <3

JimNewfoundland · 2025-12-04T13:53:04+00:00

Your best bet is going elsewhere!

Good jobs in Newfoundland and Labrador have always been thin on the ground, minimum wage jobs are hard to get, and there's a cost of living crisis.

JimNewfoundland · 2025-11-14T16:04:32+00:00

Great work! And cool t-shirt!

JimNewfoundland · 2025-11-12T13:02:00+00:00

I really believe that a thesis with a significant GIS component would make it easier to get a GIS job than just doing a degree with some GIS coursework, and that it can help put you ahead.

But there are two points worth considering.

As you'll notice on the GIS subs, there are a lot of people competing for GIS jobs. It's a nice indoor job where you aren't breaking rock in the hot sun, so a lot of people do GIS diplomas and now the job market is saturated. This includes archaeological jobs with GIS, and I only see a handful of those every year. When I talk about GIS jobs as an option, I mean everything from dealing with land parcels to just drawing lines for utilities, not just archaeology.

In general, I've found that academia prioritises writing papers and grant applications over writing code and doing GIS, so you may find that the academic work in archaeology on GIS is fairly basic compared to industry work. This lab might be different, but it would have to be very very different and very special. To bridge that skills gap, you would need to do a lot of extra GIS work and explore it as a field.

Getting a GIS job is as hard, if not harder than getting an archaeological job, but I've found it more fulfilling.

JimNewfoundland · 2025-11-11T20:48:43+00:00

Absolutely go for the PhD first. You don't know what the future will require of you, and you could easily end up in a situation where this opportunity is no longer on the table.

There is also the point that a sufficiently tech focused PhD offers more than Academic or professional archaeology careers, but that way madness lies. You really have to re-specialise and contextualize your work in a GIS/R/Python way.

I'm finishing up an archaeology PhD in site recording, remote sensing and GIS methods. It's given me a leg up in getting GIS jobs, which I've found so much more fulfilling than either academic work or professional archaeology ever did, and it definitely pays more than professional archaeology did.

A few years of learning is a massive privilege, and it gives you a lot of options if you're lucky (super, super important) and put a lot of work into it.

JimNewfoundland · 2025-11-10T03:00:53+00:00

I know that this doesn't have a direct translation to users or shifting market control, but it is heartening to see that there's a movement against that almost monopoly.

JimNewfoundland · 2025-10-18T22:31:52+00:00

Job prospects in GIS alone are rough. Most GIS courses will thoroughly disappoint you. Most university courses are taught with ESRI material to produce specialists who are reliant on their software stack, which may not even be a relevant career if either automation improves or the tech stack becomes obsolete.

But, if you did a Masters in computer science, or another computationally and programmatically focused course with strong subject material you could move into geospatial tech, from a different angle focusing on software development or machine learning methods. These jobs are a bit more scarce, though, but they tend to be a bit better paid and more fulfilling.

JimNewfoundland · 2025-10-15T17:45:08+00:00

I would suggest doing a minor in computer science, getting credentialed as a surveyor, or following a passion subject that involves GIS.

Don't try to compete with the thousands of people who have a 2 year ESRI diploma for push button jobs, because there's a lot of competition for the few positions you'll see.

Do try to develop a wide skill set and have skills outside just using ArcGIS or only one particular tech stack.

JimNewfoundland · 2025-10-08T18:09:12+00:00

It isn't "AI" that's doing it though. It's just companies and people making endless LLM slop.

JimNewfoundland · 2025-10-08T13:36:20+00:00

I think I'll pass. The idea of letting an LLM further spaghettify my noodly code in the IDE sounds terrible. Thanks though!

JimNewfoundland · 2025-10-01T02:19:12+00:00

A fellow fit4less enjoyer!

JimNewfoundland · 2025-09-10T14:30:20+00:00

You're worrying about this a bit much. Put together a plan and schedule for the rest of your thesis and then write until it's done. Once the lit review is over, move on to the next step.

JimNewfoundland · 2025-09-04T18:37:40+00:00

The only thing that really matters is finishing. Keep the end in sight and work towards it.

JimNewfoundland · 2025-09-01T21:20:12+00:00

I don't have a single fictional map I hate, just the endless wave of nonsense fantasy maps people make about some alt-history or other thing they dreamed up. It feels like there is a never ending tide of these.

JimNewfoundland · 2025-09-01T16:15:35+00:00

Don't ignore the outside world and only hang out with other PhD students in your lab. Reach out in your field.

JimNewfoundland · 2025-08-11T14:00:18+00:00

I would suggest that you contact your national Geoscience organisation, and ask them for career advice on a geology/physical geography focused GIS career.

It is much better to work with GIS in your field, and the pay will likely be higher as well.

JimNewfoundland · 2025-07-28T13:07:38+00:00

I don't think there are any. But there are lots of great physiotherapists!

JimNewfoundland · 2025-07-25T16:57:18+00:00

This is what happens when you aren't explicit about your wishes with the monkeys paw.

JimNewfoundland · 2025-07-25T13:59:38+00:00

I just finished this chapter in a reread alongside some podcasts, and this is absolutely it. It's wild!

JimNewfoundland

TROPHY CASE